LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD: Neophyte filmmaker Judith Morrow arrived back in Winnipeg this week after winning top honours at film fests in the U.S. and Canada for her controversial documentary The Healing of Heather Garden. “I just won Best Short Documentary in Los Angeles at First Glance (film festival). Things are afoot!” she says. Her 30-minute film is about a young woman from Brandon who healed herself from an aggressive form of multiple sclerosis, using a series of alternative methods over several years.

Morrow also won the Jury Award (“most liked by the jurors”) at the Canadian International Film Festival in Toronto last month, competing against 1,000 submissions from around the world. “I got one of the top two awards. I still can’t believe it!” says the Winnipeg social worker, who spent 10 years painstakingly putting the film together from scratch. The little engine that could has caused a big buzz in the international documentary film industry.

Peter Jessiman of Bison Transport, business guru Hartley Richardson and his wife, Heather, Diane Gray of CentrePort and Mariette Mulaire, president and CEO of the World Trade Centre Winnipeg. Ambassador to the U.S. Gary Doer,  Mayor Sam Katz, Advance Electronics owner Arnold Frieman and Robin Hildebrand of Golden West, which owns new Classic 107.1 radio — a classical and jazz music station are headed to Carnegie Hall with the WSO. Travellers are extending their trips to hit the theatres and sign up for sightseeing tours — many through the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA), which partnered with WSO for this big travel event.

To raise money for the Carnegie Hall gig, the WSO offered “adoptions” of all the orchestra members and guest artists at $300 to $5,000 a pop. Schroeder says every one of them has new “parents” now. Conductor Alexander Mickelthwate’s prestigious adoption cost a whopping $15,000, happily paid by Marcel Desautels, a music-loving philanthropist originally from Winnipeg. When Schroeder called him, he just said, “Yes indeed!”

Got tips, events, sightings, unusual things going on? Call Maureen’s tip line at 204-474-1116, email [email protected], or send letters to Maureen Scurfield c/o The Insider, 1355 Mountain Ave., R2X 3B6.